section: Australia
There are more than 200 results, only the first 200 are displayed here.
-
AUSTRALIA
- Jim McDermott
- 02 March 2015
The inner sanctum of the Prime Minister’s office, filled with smoke. DON DRAPER sits in a chair, cigarette in one hand, tumbler of Scotch in the other.
Across, Prime Minister TONY ABBOTT. Around them, members of his cabinet.
GREG HUNT (coughing weakly): We really don't allow smoking in here.
CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Plus, how do you still look so good? It’s 2015.
Draper turns Pyne's way. His eyes glitter like steel.
DON: Really, that's what you want to talk about right now, my looks?
TONY: Now listen, Don, I did it all just like you said. Pushed up the spill motion to keep the momentum from building, said I would be more consultative, got on with the business of governing. And yet two weeks later ... Read more
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 02 March 2015
10 Comments
The Prime Minister has been forced to announce a proposal to toughen food labelling laws after the recent outbreak of Hepatitis A was linked to 'Nannas' imported berries. This goes against his resolve to remove red tape that represents 'unnecessary' compliance costs for business. The government has fervently derided red tape and presented regulation as the enemy, without distinguishing between regulations that are redundant and those that are needed to protect the consumer.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Brendan Long
- 02 March 2015
5 Comments
As the freshly minted Social Services Minister, Scott Morrison has moved quickly to soften the tough stance he took in the Immigration portfolio. But it won't necessarily be easy. Patrick McClure has presented him with a massively controversial report on welfare reform which, if acted upon, would significantly reduce the incomes of a million marginalised Australians.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Stephanie Dowrick
- 27 February 2015
16 Comments
The Prime Minister's choice of Rosie Batty as Australian of the Year is wholly admirable. Her advocacy about domestic violence following the tragic murder of her son by his father has been passionate and effective. But the praise heaped upon Rosie Batty is meaningless, even insulting, while support services are diminishing or disappearing for all the other women and children in need of immediate protection.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 26 February 2015
41 Comments
I fear for those Muslim young people driven into the arms of ideological extremists so unnecessarily. I'm prompted to recall my school years, when Soviet troops were invading Hungary to put down the brief revolution. I wondered uneasily whether it was not perhaps my duty to go to Hungary to fight for freedom there. For an idealistic young man whose Catholicism was tightly intertwined with anti-communism, the thought was natural.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Tony Kevin
- 24 February 2015
29 Comments
On Monday, Tony Abbott made his finest speech as prime minister. Yet it was also scare-mongering, heavy handed and intimidatory. It reminded members of the Muslim Community that the Australian Government has the power to control and punish them. It may be a vote winner for a while, but for long term effect it’s worth contrasting it with the British Government’s successful calming messaging during the 1969-97 terror campaign.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 19 February 2015
20 Comments
Columnist for The Australian Chris Kenny's insistance 'that Tony Abbott has provided the best 16 months of government Australia has seen in more than seven years' evoked the image of a captain on the bridge, proclaiming the sea-worthiness of his ship, and saluting as the sea rises to meet his nose while the lesser mortals below die into silence. Such magnificent gestures of defiance are not to be despised.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Binoy Kampmark
- 18 February 2015
22 Comments
A group of 50 academics has pointed out that 'Independent public office holders are an important part of modern democratic societies.' The Australian Bar Association and the Law Council of Australia have similarly argued that the personal attacks on Triggs amounted to an undermining of justice and the protection of human rights. It is a point the Abbott Government neglects to its peril.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Zac Alstin
- 17 February 2015
11 Comments
The ancient Chinese text the Zhuangzi tells of a kingdom where the people rose up and killed their ruler three times in succession. Australia has seen two of its rulers 'killed' in succession since 2010, with a third now perilously close to extinction. Are we approaching a point where the highest expression of political wisdom would be not to run for leadership at all?
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 February 2015
19 Comments
Last week two reports exposed the limits of Australian responsibility to people who have suffered as a result of historical or present Government actions. The Closing the Gap Report revealed more failures than successes, and Tony Abbott's response to the Report was exemplary in taking responsibility. Not so with the Human Rights Commission Report into children in detention. He denied responsibility and accused the messenger of deliberately distorting the facts.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Kerry Murphy
- 13 February 2015
23 Comments
Former Immigration Minister's Scott Morrison's ruthless determination to prevent refugees arriving by boat from getting permanent residence has been successfully challenged. On Wednesday, the High Court ordered the current Immigration Minister to grant a permanent protection visa to a Pakistani Hazara 'S297'. Such an instruction is almost unheard of, as usually the Minister is asked to re-make the decision lawfully.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 12 February 2015
19 Comments
Tony Abbott and Campbell Newman prided themselves on strong leadership. They assumed voters would think the country was in good hands if it was ruled by a strong-willed leader who gives priority to pushing through programs rather than signalling, explaining and defending them. A more effective way forward in politics could be to forget slogans and will-power and instead give priority to communication and action that is based on reason.
READ MORE